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Blessing in Disguise

4 Oct

I thought Monday being a replacement holiday was a blessing in disguise because I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning on Sunday to watch the Ryder Cup until almost the end. The singles battles were thrilling and was of epic proportions especially certain match ups. Sleep and the comfort of my bed could not match them!

And when one stays up until 5.30am, it sure would be tough to wake up three hours later to get ready to go to the office. Thankfully it didn’t have to be like that. Never have I been so caught up with live showing of any sports and following it so closely, not even the recent Olympics because of the time difference; sometimes it’s a putt off. But not so with this year’s Ryder Cup and the 13-hours time difference.

It was worth it! Well done Team USA.

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It’s Not Right

3 Oct

Ever since my iPad Mini updated to iOS9.3.5, everything has not been right. It has gotten so slow and unstable. And when apps get updated, it’s worse. I am having problems with my two virtual candy games – unstable upon launching and quits instantly, so can’t play. Hrmph. Strangely, the apps only work if I don’t connect to the wifi but this is such a hassle especially when I am home.

So over the weekend, I was down to only two devices to crush some candies – the MacBook Air and my iOS7.1.2 iPhone5S. Sigh…

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Much Improvement

23 Sep

It has been past a month since I last held a golf club, 21st August being my last game played at Raffles Golf Club in Singapore. Amazingly, despite such a lengthy break I don’t have any withdrawal symptoms for the game. Have I lost my passion? Save for a couple of bouts chipping in the garden at home, I don’t have the urge to quickly head back onto the golf course. Maybe my virtual games and work at the office kept my mind busy to quell any thoughts.

The treatment for my left hand has progressed well. I have done 12 sessions already! It was after the tenth session that I could feel a big difference in the overall mobility of the hand. I am pleased, very pleased. One of the main factor to this progress is the discipline to do the home exercises, ice the hand and of course, going for treatment three times a week. As there has been improvements, treatment is now down to twice a week.

When I first started, the pain level was 6/7 out of 10, 10 being very painful. As of yesterday before my twelfth session, it’s down to two. I foresee by next week, this will improve further. Although my doctor has approved for me to continue the garden chipping activity, going to the driving range is still off limits. I am also encouraged to hold 1kg dumb bells to increase the muscle strength and this I will do during my once-a-week gym sessions.

Recovery from an injury sometimes can be long and arduous. A simple injury like mine has taken this somewhat long journey, what more an injury of a more complicated nature? But with discipline and patience, I feel my journey has not been that difficult or taxing. I am not counting the days yet to when I can play my first pain-free game, I just want to be totally healed. No rush after such improvements.

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So So Annoying

22 Sep

Two nights ago the annoying iOS9.3.5 struck again on the iPad Mini! I was in the thick of things crushing candies when suddenly, the device just blacked out. Quit the app and blacked out, not once or twice but three times! Man, I was annoyed.

And yesterday morning, again! I just made it pass the challenge of Level 1941 in Candy Crush with four lives to spare when it blacked out, thus the victory was not captured! Aarghh.

It is unfortunate that my iPad Mini, being the first generation model, is too old to update to the new and improved iOS10. So I am stuck with the annoying iOS9.3.5 that is so unstable. It’s almost as if the OS is conspiring with the iPad to stop me from crushing any candies. Hrmph…

This has again reaffirmed my stance for my iPhone5S – maintain the stable iOS7.1.2. I must say I am perfectly happy with it because I don’t face the issues like the iPad is giving me. Furthermore I don’t see why I need all the new stuff that comes with the new OS. What you don’t have, you won’t miss, that’s how I look at it.

So with one device ‘down’, I will be maintaining status quo for my phone. My poor iPad.

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Am I Missing Out?

20 Sep

Over the weekend, M2 upgraded her iPhone5C and iPad Mini4 to iOS10 and loved it. When the OS was first released last week, there were a lot of update problems reported with people’s phones becoming bricks. I told her to hold off the update last week until a patch came out which I think did to fix the problem. She’s happy.

As for me? Err… I am still on iOS7.1.2, dinosaur that I am. When iOS8 came out sometime back, I refused to update because I had read somewhere that it wasn’t stable. So I left my phone as is. Then iOS9 came out, I took the plunge and updated my iPad Mini first only to be traumatized by the act because it wiped out my iPad. I know, there is this thing called ‘backup’ but it’s complicated.

Fearing the worst for my iPhone5S, I held back any further updates for it. And when my iPad went on to iOS9.3.5, I found it to be unstable. This reaffirmed my stance not to update the OS for my phone.

But am I missing out on the new OS’s goodies if I held back? Or am I being paranoid for nothing? She’s been gushing about the new stuff and thinks I should. Hmm…

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Work? What’s That?

19 Sep

It feels funny to return to work after enjoying a three-day break that occurred twice within a week, once at the beginning and another towards the end of the week. One could actually get used to it. While it’s bad for workflow, it sure does wonders for the inner being.

And I am in the opinion that such breaks are much better than going away for a vacation. Vacations are fun but tiring. Usually I would need another break to recover from the vacation. But these three-day breaks, they are different. I feel much relaxed and rested to the point of getting lazy.

We did not go anywhere far only to our favorite mall, spent time with Mom, caught a movie and eating food to our fancy. And being at home, it’s nice and quiet until the official senior citizen pet barks to make demands.

Of course, I was also being a couch potato, crushed some candies, harvested fruits and beat up some monsters while M2 put in some hours doing her revision. Best part is we didn’t have to pack our schedule to see this, do that and eat off the list – something most vacation-seekers tend to do while being on a holiday. And we have the comforts of our bed and pillows after a long day to be well rested and ready for the next day’s activities or should I say inactivity.

Well, got to snap out of it, if not complacency will kick it. It was good while it lasted. Now, back to work!

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Killing Time

8 Sep

It has been a brain sapping week for me at the office because of the challenging design project in hand. Every evening I come home mentally tired and have no desire to do anything else.

But the day does not end when we reach home as we still have the tuition run, sending M2 for her weekly night classes. This then becomes physically tiring as well.

Normally when she is at the extra class, we would wait for her instead of making an extra trip back and forth. And the Wednesday class being an hour and a half long, we would go to the driving range to hit a hundred balls to pass the waiting time. But this activity has to be ruled out for now due to the wrist undergoing treatment currently. So what did we do last night?

We went to the sports store, Decathlon and played table tennis in the store itself! Now this is not something we do often, blatantly making a fool of ourselves in public but I think last night was an exception. When one is tired, one ceases to think rationally. Then again, it wasn’t an embarrassing moment but felt carefree.

So we had a little fun destressing moment, a light workout if you may call it a workout and managed to kill some time. I think we were at it for a good 15-20 minutes until the store announced it would be closing. Pity.

Honestly half the time we were laughing instead of playing. No Olympian table tennis performance we displayed but the laughter did worked out the kinks from the work-sapped body and it felt good.

Would we do it again next week? Hmm… We shall see.

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The Real Farmer

2 Sep

I have been playing Farm Heroes for quite a long while but lately getting bored by it. Maybe because I am stuck at Level 903. I thought I was a good farmer but hubby is better, and a real one.

Unlike me who harvests virtual fruits and vegetables, hubby grows the real stuff. From our garden, he has harvested a whole lot of the blue flower (Clitoria Ternatea) for brewing tea and awaiting the next crop of other herbs and plants to mature before harvesting them.

Quite the farmer he has been, more than me.

   
   

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Out of Action

25 Aug

I finally did something about the constant pain in my left wrist because I can’t go on with one day of good golf and the next day, terrible golf. And the discovery was not good. Uh oh. Saw a sports doctor who advised me to take an x-ray just to be sure no broken bones because she felt a bone spur when she probed my hand. Uh oh.

The x-ray result came out good. Phew. No hairline cracks, so essentially this means the soft tissues. I have a slight tear in the muscle at the wrist area that is causing pain here, there and everywhere because everything is connected.

The first thing the doctor said, no sports or any stress inducing exercise that involves the hands. Uh oh. No golf in other words. And my gym sessions would have to change, no weights.

For a good 6 weeks! With some rest in between, I am looking at being out of action for two months. How will I survive?

And I have to undergo a treatment program to regenerate the tissues and enable the stretched muscles to recover. The treatment is a combination of ultra sound for deep penetration repair, manual massage therapy, radio frequency stimulation and bone realignment. 

I decided to have the treatment three times a week for the recommended 20 sessions which works out to be about six weeks, give and take a little.

Somehow this time, I am more accepting of the situation. It’s exactly the same problem I had  seven years ago, only more pronounced that has recurred and doing the same treatment to rectify. Back then I was reluctant to sit out for two months. This time, I will gladly do so to ensure no repeat again.

I started treatment yesterday. 

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The Power of One

23 Aug

The Rio 2016 Olympics has come to an end. It was a world sporting event of epic proportions. New stars and darlings were born, legends immortalised and unity became stronger than ever, even for a fleeting moment for some countries, mine for one. There was also its fair share of controversies and headline grabbing moments. Part and parcel right?

Although I did not follow the Games as much, I did watch some events: golf, diving, swimming, table tennis and badminton. I remember my first exposure to the Olympics was during the dinosaur summer days of 1984 and names like Carl Lewis, Zola Budd and Mary Decker comes to mind. Track & Field was the event to follow. This time, it’s a whole lot more events and names.

Watching the golf event was obvious because I enjoy the sport. I even stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the men battle for gold. It was exhilarating! Diving was due to my country’s sportswomen qualifying for the 10m platform final. Swimming was of course the lure of the most decorated Olympian swimmer, table tennis because the players were amazing. They inspire me to want to pick up a paddle and play some hard core table tennis! And badminton because of our presence in the finals. I missed track and field live but did catch the main attraction events later.

Malaysia, my country, is not known for her sports prowess in the world arena or at the Olympics save for a couple of events. Although in squash we have a world class player, the racquet sport is not featured at the Olympics. When Team Malaysia qualified for the Badminton Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles and Men’s Singles, it was elation and pride that I felt. I am sure 30 million of our population felt the same way too.

Suddenly, there was a sense of togetherness in the nation when our players qualified for three out of the possible five finals! It’s quite a feat denying China the powerhouse of this event for yet another clean sweep like the last outing. The power of one, badminton, had united all of us to dream the impossible: achieving gold. Could we achieve it this time? 

For three nights in a row, the nation came together to root for a golden ending. The giddy excited chorus of yays when a point was scored and the worried groans in unison when a point taken was pretty amazing. Unfortunately as much as we hoped for a happy ending, we came out short and clinched silver in all three events.

We should hold our heads high and be proud of how far our nation has come along, achieving our best Olympics results ever at Rio 2016. The power of one sport, badminton, has done much good for the country and her people. The gold may have evaded us now but we look forward to Tokyo 2020 to clinch our first gold medal.

The Olympics. It was amazing. Thank you Rio 2016.

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